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Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.1.9:
3.1.9. Help to build My Country. People are loath to see the trembling of the old world. Not sternness, but solicitude about the wonderful Plan impels Me to repeat over and over. And why make a lentil stew out of Amrita? New Era Community (1926) - 209:
209. You have already seen how I put questions to a newcomer. From the replies it was possible to form an opinion about the qualities of the newcomer. Each one of you will be obliged to teach those who come to you. If they begin with a question, reply with a question of your own. You know how the quality of a question gives direction to the next question. It is inadmissible to allow inexactness to creep into the essence of the question. Often this first diffusiveness lies like a grease spot on a coverlet and becomes indelible. The hour will approach when you will tenaciously insist on questions on the part of the one with whom you speak. But the first questions must come from you. And first of all ask what has drawn him to you. And then ask him to tell when for the first time he felt the worthlessness of contemporary life; and then let him relate how the first conception of the Teacher arose in his consciousness. Let him tell how he understands achievement. Does he feel the difference between the evidence and the reality; and can he realize the community within his consciousness? Thus, it is necessary to get at the weeds of desires and dreams. Be not afraid to appear stern; certainly far worse are soft, rumpled cushions. Sternness will produce roots, and if there be also an indication of intensity, then will be created the manifestation of the bridge. Heart (1932) - 218:
218. What I indicated about obsession and Satanists, you yourselves now observe daily. Without complaint and sternly on guard you will attain victory. Let sternness be like a sharp sword. Thus, all who blaspheme must be punished. Brotherhood (1937) - 65:
65. Sternness and cruelty are quite different concepts. But people do not know how to distinguish the harmony of sternness from the spasms of cruelty. Sternness is an attribute of justice, but cruelty is misanthropy. From cruelty there is no path leading to Brotherhood. Sternness is expressed as a circle, but cruelty is the sign of madness. One should not understand cruelty as a disease; like foul speech, it is merely the expression of a base nature.
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